Chapter 49

Seated between Ron and Harry, each holding one of her hands, Hermione looked around the Hogwarts grounds, littered with rays of sunlight sneaking their way through the gaps of the trees branches overhead. Hundreds of chairs had been conjured for the students and former students, staff and former staff, and parents who had come to mourn the death of Madam Pomfrey.

Whilst not a member of the teaching staff, there was not a student past or present who had not had cause to visit Pomfrey in the infirmary for one reason or another during their time at school. That was undoubtedly why Professor McGonagall's invitation to the memorial service had received such a wide response, even during the summer holidays when many families were likely to be away on holiday or involved with their own plans during the long weeks when they had their children home from school.

She was wearing a knee length summer dress which she had transfigured a respectful black from its original floral, and a pair of matching flat pumps, but she still felt the rising heat of the day from beneath the forest canopy above them. Her palms, encased in each of her best friends', were beginning to get a little slick and sweaty, but she wasn't sure that was entirely due to the temperature.

From their seats halfway down the makeshift outdoor auditorium she could see Severus sitting straight and upright in the front row, Draco Malfoy next to him and thankfully no sign of Andromeda Tonks, whom she had figured out, once she began to think clearly again after the shock, was the witch that had accompanied him to the Wizengamot hearing, due to her stunning resemblance to her sister, the odious Bellatrix Lestrange.

The two Slytherin wizards sat alone, there were empty seats to both sides of them, and for some reason this made her feel sad, that these men were still unaccepted due to the marks they both bore. She was also struggling with an irrepressible urge to run up to him and throw herself onto his lap and into his arms, to show the hundreds of people present how worthy of love he was, how wrong they were not to take the opportunity to sit next to him.

A huge woman with a ruddy red face and a bouffant of curly hair that looked as if she were wearing a brown pygmy puff as a hat, walked down the central aisle with McGonagall, dwarfing the tall Scotswoman, headed for the front and sat down next to Severus without hesitation. She had met his eye with an understanding look, although Hermione could not see his response, since he had his back to her.

The Headmistress stood at the front at an ornate lectern, draped with crimson red poppies. She explained that this was to be a memorial service, since a private funeral had already been held for the medi-witch where she had been lain to rest. She went on to speak about the many years of long service that Madam Pomfrey had given to Hogwarts, her non-partisan care for all students, and staff, she had added with a wink, and a ripple of gentle laughter at this could be heard from the assembled professors.

The huge woman, who it transpired was called Vera Cruddington, Madam Pomfrey's long-term partner, stood up and gave a eulogy, her red face even more flushed by the sincerity in her words. When she finished and returned to her seat, to Hermione's great surprise Severus rose from his chair, embraced Vera, and moved to the flowered lectern. He was clad head to foot in his usual black, his raven hair glossy and just skimming his shoulders. She could not help inappropriately thinking how handsome he was, his darkness contrasting starkly against the blood-red of the poppies in a truly beautiful way.

"It has fallen to me to close this memorial service," he began, his deep voice rumbling low with emotion, evoking a powerful longing deep in her gut.

"There is not much I can say that has not already been said, aside from to concur that Madam Poppy Pomfrey was a tireless worker, a loving partner, and a fierce protector of those in need ... whether or not she approved of the actions that had landed them in her care. I shall personally miss this woman more deeply than I could ever have imagined, and shall remain proud to count her as a very dear friend. Would you all kindly raise your wands."

He lifted his own ebony wand into the air, a small beam of pink light, like a paler shade to the poppies, erupting from the end. He was joined, slowly, by the rest of the people congregated, and like a tiny pebble causing a ripple effect when skimmed across the surface of a millpond; everyone raised their own wand in the air, making a huge ball of pink light that reflected through the canopy of branches above.

With her arm lifted high in the air, Hermione looked across at Severus, her eyes searching for and meeting his own. The volcanic depths were full of sorrow, of regret, of love. She gave him a single nod, letting him know his words were enough, he had done well. He gave a slight bob of his head in return, just enough to connect them, just enough to count for their first exchange in weeks.

Severus gazed out across the assembly, seeking out the eyes of the only one who mattered. She was utterly dignified as she solemnly lifted her wand at his call to raise, as well as looking entirely beautiful clad all in black, her curls bouncing softly on her shoulders and down her back. He longed to tangle his hands in them, to pull her head towards him and kiss her, to never let her go again.

- xxx –

The chairs had been magically cleared away; some people having already departed, walking down to the boar-topped gates on the Hogwarts boundary and apparated home or wandered into Hogsmeade village for a drink, whilst others were stood loitering in small clusters chatting and catching-up with long-forgotten acquaintances.

Ron had been distracted by a girl from Fred and George's school year whom he was clearly trying to impress with his tales of professional quidditch, single fatherhood and his imminent entry into the auror training programme. Harry and Hermione shook their heads in amused resignation; honestly, the incorrigible Ronald Bilius Weasley would never change his spots.

"So, Granger, when can Potter and I next come and play on your beach?"

She turned around to see Draco standing behind them, hands in his pockets, his slightly hopeful smile betraying a confidence she wasn't entirely sure he felt.

"Anytime you want, Draco. If you and Harry are wanting to come and play at the seaside, please feel free to visit any time, the pair of you," she smiled back, feeling Harry aiming a discreet but sharp kick to her foot.

"You might want to check with me before booking holidays for us together, Malfoy," Harry cut in, neatly, with a slight tease to his voice that Hermione had not heard before, and after his revelation the previous weekend, she now identified as flirting. She wondered how Draco would take it, as to her knowledge, he was straight and had been seen with girlfriends whilst at school.

"Pack your trunk, Potter. We need to take Teddy for a weekend at the beach. He spends too much time cramped up with Aunt Dromeda, bored out of his tiny skull."

Well. She hadn't been expecting that response. The conversation moved to verbal sparring between the two of them, and she gradually slunk backwards, her input being no longer required, until she found herself standing alone.

"Hermione."

That was what she wanted and needed to hear. Her name uttered in velvet tones that dripped over her auditory nerves like melting chocolate. A voice that suggested the promise of a hundred nights spent in sexual ecstasy, from the mouth that caressed her body like a supplicant revering a goddess, which contained the tongue that set fire to her every nerve as it slithered around her like a flickering snake.

She turned around, quite unnerved at standing this close to him for the first time in so very long.

"Severus," she breathed.

He looked down at her, his face expressionless but his eyes betraying the burning black fire behind his neutral gaze.

"Would you do me the honour of granting me with an audience? Not here," he added quickly, glancing around at the assembled guests, milling around the school grounds.

"I am going home to the cottage shortly."

"Home to the cottage?"

"I live there now. I moved out of the Burrow some time ago."

He was silent as he processed this information.

"May I visit you there? Will you allow it?"

"I will, Severus. I will allow it."

"I have some matters to attend to here first. But I will be with you as soon as I possibly can."

She nodded.

"Until then."

"Until then, Hermione."

He looked at her as if he would like to swallow her whole, in one gulp. She flushed from her face to the soles of her feet. She would probably let him.

- xxx –

Back at Cliffside Cottage, she opted to sit in the garden for a while on her swing-seat, needing the cool breeze that was blowing in from the sea to calm her frazzled nerves. The memorial service had been beautiful, solemn and appropriate, and whilst she hadn't really known Madam Pomfrey on a personal level, she respected her skill in the field of Healing.

Having more of an emotional reaction to the sight of her ex-boyfriend than for the memory of the deceased was rather inappropriate, but she could no more stop it than if she stood in front of a moving Hogwarts Express.

Severus was able to arouse myriad feelings within her, from anger at how he had treated her, through sorrow at his apparent social outcast status, towards love for every inch of his tortured soul and ending up in an intense sexual desire to have him buried deep inside her. She didn't know which feeling was supposed to be the correct one, and if there was one thing Hermione Granger hated, it was not having all the right answers.

She had been out with David Bergin the night after her success before the Wizengamot, and they'd had a really lovely evening in Diagon Alley, celebrating in a packed Leaky Cauldron with a fabulous pub dinner and lots of drinks. Tom, the old barman at the Leaky, had opened the large back room for dancing, and kept the music going on the old wireless, tuned to a wizarding music station. They had danced for what seemed like hours with many other witches and wizards, ending up in a set of slow dances, everyone sweaty both from energetic dancing and the heat in the room.

David had slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close for a kiss, which she had allowed, even licking along his lips and sliding her hands up to clasp around his neck.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the kiss, it just wasn't ... right.

When David cheekily slid a hand down to squeeze her arse, she reached behind her and pulled it up again to rest upon the small of her back, setting a clear boundary he was not to cross. He broke the kiss and looked at her questioningly.

"Too soon?"

"Too soon," she nodded, returning her hands to a dance position and resting her chin on his shoulder, so her mouth was out of the kissing zone.

As the night drew to a close, David had walked her to one of many apparition stops in Diagon Alley, thanking her for a lovely evening and asking if he could see her again. She had said yes, for the simple reason was that she couldn't think of a good reason to say no. She liked David, he was a good man and pleasant enough company, it wasn't his fault he wasn't Severus Snape.

He had kissed her goodnight and it had developed into a heavy, open-mouth snog, where he kept his hands in a respectful place and pushed her no further than she wanted to go. It was all very nice, she thought, as she apparated back to the cottage.

A very nice kiss, a very nice evening, a very nice wizard.

The only problem was that she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted, or needed, nice.

- xxx –

Severus stayed at Hogwarts after the memorial service to assist with any necessary clearing-up, and to make small talk with the colleagues he had left without a goodbye on the last day of term, which was slightly awkward and he was soundly berated by Minerva, who had finished with a resigned shake of her head.

"I don't know, Severus, you will never change, will you, you surly, unsociable wizard. I only hope that young witch of yours sees a better side of you than the rest of us are gifted with."

Other professors that were in earshot seemed visibly surprised to hear that Snape was in a relationship, and raised their goblets of wine, which had been brought out by the house-elves after the guests had left, to his good health and successful future, as they would have done on his last day, had he not absconded.

At length, he took his leave and walked down to the gates and the apparition point. It was time to put things right. He swallowed hard, gathered his nerves, and twisted in to his apparition.

- xxx –

Hermione was wiping the kitchen surfaces to burn off some nervous energy when there was a knock at the door. Severus was the only person who could apparate directly inside her wards, since he had been the one to set them, so she knew it was him. She put down the cloth and rinsed her hands quickly under the tap before heading to open the wooden door.

He stood on her doorstep, a vision draped in black, the setting sun making vivid orange, pink and red stripes behind him. She held on to the door with one hand and looked at him, his countenance as unreadable as that first night beside the Black Lake at Hogwarts.

"I have viewed the memory you kindly owled to me."

She nodded.

"Whilst it is by no means the biggest issue that we need to discuss, I concur that I was wrong to assume you were sleeping with Weasley, and that your version of events were indeed correct."

"I can imagine that seeing us through the window would have set your mind racing. If it had been me watching you, it would have broken my heart."

He lowered his head slowly and then up again, before continuing.

"I also owe you a sincere apology for my behaviour in the Potions classroom, the last time we were ... together. I took my pleasure from you and then treated you with cruelty and disrespect. You did not deserve that, particularly not from me, who has made so many mistakes myself."

"I enjoyed the classroom," she admitted, with the hint of a small smile, "Just not what followed afterwards."

"I am truly regretful, Hermione."

"I know."

He shifted awkwardly on the front step and folded his arms across his body, making no move to come inside, and she did not invite him.

"I believe our problems started with my inability to cope with a negative reaction to our relationship."

"They're not negative any more, Severus. In fact Draco took the trouble to find out where I was living now in order to personally visit me and tell me how miserable you were."

"He did?" Severus cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

"He did indeed. He spent the afternoon here, actually. I wouldn't say we were now best friends, but we certainly reached an understanding."

"I confess myself astonished."

"Our relationship was astonishing. Before you oddly decided that at some point in the future I would certainly leave you, so you decided to ruin everything first."

Severus grimaced at her harsh words.

"Was. Was ... was," he repeated, sadly, "Was astonishing. Past tense."

Hermione let go of the door that she was clutching in security and took a step towards him, placing both her hands on his crossed forearms over his chest, it was as if he was attempting to create a physical barrier in order to protect himself from emotional harm.

"It is not too late, Severus. That is, unless you are now seeing Andromeda Tonks, but I am hoping that is not the case, since you are here with me now on a Saturday evening."

He unfolded his arms and seized her small hands in his large ones, his long, pale fingers grasping hers and enveloping them, not missing the opportunity to touch her.

"She calls herself Andromeda Black now, and let me assure you without a shadow of doubt that I am not, nor ever have been, seeing her. She peculiarly owled me a long while back attempting to gain a deeper acquaintance with me, to which I never replied, and then I happened to run into her in the Ministry atrium before your hearing, and she somewhat attached herself to me."

"I saw," Hermione replied, drily.

Quick as a flash he slid his hands from clutching hers to her bare upper arms and pulled her close, almost teetering her over the doorstep, and spoke low and quiet.

"I came to the hearing that day, Hermione, to see your months of hard work reach their deserved conclusion. I came to see my warrior of a witch slay the beast of the Wizengamot with logic, fact and all-round common sense. I was not disappointed, for you were sublime, my darling. My only regret is that I was not there alone and invisible at the back, out of your sight, as I had planned."

He had pulled her so close she could feel his breath on her face.

"Severus ..."

"Hermione," he growled, so urgently and desperately she could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he pulled her against him.

"I give you my word that if you allow me another chance I will spend the rest of my life proving that you were right to do so. I apologise for not having faith in you, for not believing that a witch as outstanding as yourself could truly be in love with such a black-hearted soul as myself. You have woken me from a slumber that I had allowed to dictate my life for too many years. You have shown me, despite me being the teacher and you the student, shown me a better way of living, how to be truly alive."

She stared at him, his expression no longer neutral but a contorted mass of pain and desire.

"Be with me," he whispered, in a low, hypnotic hiss, "Live with me, stay with me, be with me, and when you are ready, bond with me – bond with me and allow me to live out the remainder of my days dedicated to your happiness."

Had he just proposed?

Hermione looked at her former professor, the most feared teacher in Hogwarts, a dark wizard from whom she had been able to unearth the soul and life within, a man who fulfilled her every need – emotionally, physically, intellectually and sexually. How could she ever be satisfied with nice when Severus Snape was all ... this?

This was what she needed, what she craved, what she loved.

Severus; and all his damnable eccentricities, despondency and emotional constipation.

Severus; and the desperate, obsessive, all-consuming love he had for her.

Nothing else would do, and so she made her decision.

She closed the gap between them and pressed her lips softly to his, kissing his mouth with comforting strokes, before slipping her hands up his chest and behind his head, tangling them in his long hair and pulling him tight towards her.

He let out a groan of relief and desire before pushing his tongue between her lips, forcing the writhing muscle deep into her willing mouth, sweeping around it as if he were reclaiming his territory. He removed his hands from where they were squeezing her upper arms and down to her lower back, pulling her slightly upwards to meet his kisses and she felt his erection clearly pushing again her stomach.

"I think ... Severus ... " she murmured through their kisses, "that you had better come inside now."

She squealed as he tightened his grip around her, lifting her up in the air and she folded her legs around his waist, sitting against his erection which made him groan delightfully again. He walked into the cottage, which suddenly seemed too small for the sheer amount of space his mere presence seemed to take up, and kicked the door shut behind them.

They did not get far.

Not even willing to wait until they reached the living room, he spun around and pressed her into the white wall by the side of the front door, her legs still wound around his waist, and began to kiss her as if he wanted to devour her mouth entirely. She pulled at his cravat tied neatly at his neck, roughening up his starched appearance, and clutched at his bare neck, rubbing her fingers into his needy skin, knowing he would be desperate for her touch.

He used his hips to hold her hard against the wall, his erection pressed against her mound and threatening to burst out of the confines of his trousers. She kept tightening her legs around him, keeping him pulled close, and he slid a hand up her thigh and under the black skirt of her dress, pushing the soft material upwards until he could grasp a handful of her delicious arse, and she moaned so long and loud into his mouth that he slipped his long fingers under the fabric of her knickers, cupping and squeezing the bare cheek he found there.

Moving his hips back from her ever so slightly, he sent a wandless, non-verbal spell to release the zip and buttons from his crotch, since he wasn't sure how much more the tailoring could cope with. His trousers fell down his thighs a little, and his already throbbing and leaking cock sprang forth from the fly of his undershorts, and brushed against her bare leg.

She broke the kiss and he marvelled at her face, stained so erotically with the flush of high arousal. And because of him.

"Now, please, Severus," she breathed, grasping the back of his neck.

"You are sure?"

"I need you."

He did not need telling twice. He vanished her knickers so fast that he wasn't sure whether he'd actually banished them from existence. Not to worry, he would buy her a thousand new pairs if she desired them. Right at that moment he just needed them gone.

He lined up his cock at her entrance, feeling it wet and ready, and looked up, locking his blazing black eyes to her golden brown ones.

"I love you. Mother of Merlin, Hermione, I love you."

"Show me."

He thrust himself hard inside her, pushing her small body up the wall with a jolt and eliciting a deep, guttural moan. She clutched at his shoulders and held his gaze, enticing him to draw out and thrust again, which he did.

She felt so wonderfully familiar, so comforting and so fucking good that it drew tears to his eyes, tears of fright that he could have lost her forever, and tears of joy that he was with her now. He sunk his face into the delectable curve of her neck and began to suck on it deeply as he pistoned into her, driving her hips into the wall with the force and depth of his thrusts. Every part of her was wrapped around him like a snake, making their two bodies move as one.

She felt his tears running down her neck and moved his head so that she could see his face, as he slowed his thrusting to a minimum. She caught his tears with her fingertips, before pulling him towards her so she could kiss them away.

"I love you," she whispered, planting butterfly kisses over his damp cheeks, lips and nose. "I love you, and I always will. I loved you before I even knew it myself."

Her passionate declaration spurred his movements into beginning again and he increased his pace, driving his cock home inside her, allowing an animalistic moan to escape, a moan of sheer bliss at her words and at their lovemaking, before letting out a cry of defeat as he spilled his seed into her, snapping his hips with each spurt to fully empty himself of his physical love for her.

He remained holding her against the wall with his hips, and she put her arms around his neck and smiled, the wonderful smile she reserved only for him, the one he had feared he would never see again.

"Why Severus," she teased, "I do believe you owe me."

"Little witch," he gasped, trying to regain his composure from the intense orgasm he had just experienced, "I will make it my life's work to ensure that you are the most satisfied woman in wizarding Britain."

"Is that another proposal?"

His penis had softened and it slipped from inside her, sending a wry smile to both of their faces. He returned her feet to the floor, tucked it away inside the shorts he still wore, and pulled up his trousers, fastening them completely. She raised her eyebrow in amused confusion and him dressing himself, before smoothing her black summer dress back down over her hips.

"I believe it would be extremely bad form to propose marriage with one's penis hanging out."

She laughed; a wonderful sound that he looked forward to hearing for the rest of his life, and he dropped to one knee in front of her, slightly incredulous as to what he was doing, but with no intention of not doing it.

"My darling girl, I have no wish to tie you down before you are ready, since I desire you to go forth in your career that you have begun with such success. However, it seems that we already have a bond of love, care and mutual respect between us that neither of us are content to let go. Therefore, I formally ask you to undertake a marriage bond with me, but the time and manner of any such bonding will be your decision and yours alone. I have never before in my life asked a witch to bond with me, and never will again. If you will consent to have me as your husband when the time is right, I am yours."

She could not help the tears that were falling unbidden from her eyes in fat drops and trickling down her face, into the corners of her mouth that was split into a wide smile, and down her chin in a most un-elegant manner. She wiped her hands up her cheeks to push them away.

"Do these tears constitute an acceptance of my proposal?"

Amusingly, he looked almost worried. He had no idea of how powerfully attractive he was, no idea whatsoever. Well, that sat just fine with her; she had no intention of sharing her discovery with anyone.

She bent down, whispering a Finite Incantatum to lift the glamour from his neck, revealing the enormous scar that was so inherently a part of him. Sliding her hand delicately along the scar, stroking it with her fingertips in the sensual way she knew brought him so much physical pleasure, she put her mouth directly next to his ear and whispered.

"They do. Yes, I will bond with you, when we are both ready."

She pulled back and kissed him tenderly on the lips, the incredulous look on his face worth a million galleons at that moment. She pulled him to his feet.

"Did you think I might refuse?"

"I don't know what I was thinking of. Only of you; and keeping you close to me."

"Well, now you have me."

He gave her that lascivious, wolfish smirk that always made her insides turn over.

"Little witch, I have not had you nearly enough. Could I persuade you to join me on the sofa? I believe I have had a debt owing for the last ten minutes, and I wish to pay it, right now."

He lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the huge, comfortable sofa, the large windowed wall giving them a glorious view of the multicoloured sunset over the horizon, turning the sea from a blue-green to slowly black. There would be many times that he would see this view in the future, with this girl, with this happiness, but right now, this night they had agreed to bond, would surely be the sweetest.

- xxx –

As Neville might say, this is not over! If you want to read more - there is more. Let me know. Pouf x